Michigan freshman Nik Stauskas could be one of John Beilein's best 3-pointers since arriving in Ann Arbor. Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

ANN ARBOR -- For the past decade, John Beilein's measured the success of his long-range shooters with one drill.

Make 50 3-pointers in five minutes, and then do it again.

But recently, with the addition of freshman shooting guard Nik Stauskas and the growth of senior Matt Vogrich, Beilein has upped the ante.

"It's 60 (in five minutes now)," Beilein said last week. "I really wanted to challenge our young men as they worked over the summer and challenge that goal. Those freshmen need to make 50 in five, but for the sophomores and juniors, 60 in five is the number.

"It was time to move it up. Fifty in five wasn't enough. We needed to work harder."

While each player has his own battle to reach Beilein's predetermined shooting goal, Stauskas and Vogrich do not. Beilein says both of them have routinely dropped in numbers in the high 60s during the drill.

And this past summer, both Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke claimed Stauskas buried 78 in five minutes.

With the addition of Stauskas, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound freshman, and the continued development of Vogrich, Beilein believes he's got a pair of true knockdown shooters who may be able to hit the long ball at a high clip for the duration of the season -- something's he's really never had at Michigan.

"It's a lot like you see in baseball," Beilein said. "You have the guy who can hit .350 but then can go 1-for-17. We've seen that with everybody. We've seen it with Zack (Novak), we've seen it with Stu (Douglass), we've seen it with Tim Hardaway.

"It's hard not to have a player who will go through those stretches, but you want a guy who when he has a bad day, it's a 2-for-6 day. I think both Nik and Matt have the ability to have those type of bad days."

Vogrich has always been a pure shooter at Michigan, but he's rarely had enough minutes to show what he can do for a consistent stretch. Stauskas, meanwhile, is expected to develop into much more than just an outside shooter -- but in the meantime, he's every bit as good as anything Michigan has right now.

But whether it's one or the other, or both, Beilein believes he's got two players who will be a constant threat around the perimeter at all times -- which, in turn, will allow his uber-talented playmakers to do what they do best.

Make plays.

"(They could be the) guy that allows Trey and Timmy to play 4-on-4," Beilein said. "Because they're not going to leave those guys in the corners. It's important they continue to work hard enough in practice to be ready for game shots. Because they're not going to get open a lot."